May Event Information and Signups!

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▼ If I walked in your shoes...

 

Hello and welcome players, both old and new, to the event planning for the memory exchange!

We hope that new players will be tantalized by the effects this event offers and give interesting insight into different characters.

▼ What is the Event About?

 

Basically, a memory exchange/swap event. However, this is Strings, so it's much more than that! There are consequences and side effects...

Starting the 15th of May, characters participating will get their Destiny Strings tangled together. At first it will be barely noticeable; just odd memories that as a player, you know your character didn't have, but your character will think is actually theirs. Their brains/cpus/etc will assimilate these new memories as their own. What this does for a character can depend immensely. A character who has always hated fish but gains a memory about loving sushi might go out to eat sushi that night and then go "Wow I really hate this! But I remember liking it a lot...". Characters who have the ability to view the Strings may start to notice that the Strings are intertwined, but it will take some time for that to be completely visible.

By the end, the characters will be in terrible pain, as their minds try to access these full memories, but with their brains realizing that these are not there after all; many of them no doubt painful and private for the other player. The Government will do their best to aid them during this time, and sort them in a level of the hospital and figure out what they can do to fix it.

Yet in the end, the solution will not be from the Government nor players, but the Strings themselves. With so much tension between both characters, the Strings will, like rubber-bands, snap back into place. This will cause a MASSIVE drain of energy, as it's not a physical snapping, but rather a soul snap and drain. Thus even characters who are strong physically and mentally will be in the hospital for a day or two, drained.

The memories of the others will slowly fade, like dreams...but there are some interesting side-effects to this...

▼ What do you need from players?

 

If you are interested in swapping and participating we will need from you the following:

▶ 7 "mundane" or semi-important memories your character has. This can be anything from "Went to a music concert with a friend and saw flowers for the first time," to "had ice-cream and fell in love with it." Anything, anytime in your character's life that they remember is fair game. These should be more like tiny little things, not memories that last a day. Just something that the other person can remember and think is their memory.

▶ 4 Traumatic or important memories your character has. These will be for the last four days of the event. These, usually, should be the most life-changing memories your character has had in their lives. For example, one of Eikichi's memories might be when they fought against Nyralthotep. These do not have to be 'bad' memories per-say these can be joyful memories too! But they are usually very private and not something characters would share willingly.

▶ As many routine traits and personality quirks that define them. These can be words they commonly say (Eikichi would be Babe, Hooooo!), things that they tend to do during the day (urge to put on visual-kei makeup and dye their hair, hates sushi, bad singing). This section is to give flavor to the exchange, as the other character starts using them too.

But here's the fun part...even after the event is over, you'll be allowed to keep some of these! It's a memory lingering effect, and not something your characters can completely control.

▶ Four skills the character has. Two should be mundane things (drawing, cooking, guitar, good with plants, etc), and two should be unique skills the character has (martial artist, boxer, lightsaber fighting, etc.)

When the event is over, players will be allowed to pick ONE Mundane and ONE unique skill from the list as muscle and lingering mind memory. Keep in mind that these skills would be more as side effects and no, your character would not suddenly be a jedi master.

An example is if someone listed martial artist as one of their two their unique skills, the other character, once the event is over, might suddenly stop an attack with a reflex block. A person who switched with a Jedi master would be able to hold a Lightsaber without cutting their arm off, but wouldn't be able do actual lightsaber dueling.

These may, however, cause the character to be much more interested in that skill and slowly work on them! Someone who ended up with cooking might start to peruse more complicated recipes. And what better than the person who you shared a few memories from...if they want to teach you.

▶ This will be asked near the end of the event, but everyone who does a memory swap will automatically gain a dual persona with that person. This is the major side effect from the exchange.

▼ Okay, I got all of that, what now?

 

Reply below either in either the preplaned exchanges (meaning you talked with someone and you already agreed you'd be exchanging with them) with your list of memories and who you are changing it with OR the roulette exchange, which will close on May 15th, 11L59pm and you will get randomly paired with someone else.

▼ Can I have a simple timeline of what's happening?

 

No problem!

▶ 15th of May, any character participating will have their String start to get tangled with someone else's. This will lead to memory bleeding, with their own brains trying to assimilate those memories as their own. No one thinks anything is wrong for now.
▶ Characters will start to act odder than normal, and adopt behavior and quirks from the other person.
▶ The last four days will end with very emotionally important memories from the other person, as they begin to suspect something is wrong. It will become much more painful.
▶ On the last day, the Government will try to round up everyone affected in the hospital in a hope to cure them.
▶ However the Strings themselves will snap back into place, causing a massive energy loss and soul draining, meaning anyone involved will be in the hospital for the next few days to regain their strength.
▶ The memories they experienced will linger like dreams; they may remember the more traumatic ones, but not fully and, as time goes on, will remember less and less.
▶ They will gain a dual persona with the other person
▶ They can also have lingering memories of a mundane and one unique skill the other character has. What they do with these is up to them; it might pique their curiosity about the subject or it might just end up being muscle reflexes later on.
▶ But who caused this and why? The Government have no leads, so some digging may be necessary...

▼ Signups

 

Copy this and post it below in the proper section (either planned or roulette):

Your Nickname:
Character's Name: Name (Series)
Exchanging With: (only if you have an exchanged planned with someone. Remove this if you are doing the roulette option.)
Comfort Level: (ROULETTE PEOPLE ONLY. Reply here with either yes or no if you are comfortable getting someone whose memories may be triggery, or list your triggers.)

Normal Memories: (List 7. You can be as detailed as you want, remember this is for the other player!)
Traumatic/Important Memories: (List 4. Same as above, but these should be more detailed as these will be the ones the other character will remember the most. IF THE EVENT IS TRIGGERY, PLEASE CLEARLY MARK THIS BEFORE THE EVENT DESCRIPTION.)
Character Quirks: (List as many as you want. These are traits that define the character, either speech patters, hand movements they do, things they really really like, etc.)
Mundane Skills: (List 2. Mundane skills are cooking, singing, drawing, and so on).
Unique Skills (List 2. These skills have to do more with your character, such as basic fire magic, martial arts, summoning, force manipulation and so on. When you list a unique skill, make sure you list it in its most beginners form possible.)

▼ Have fun!

 

Cause it's going to be awesome!

Comments

Shinjiro Aragaki [OU] & Yarne [OU]

[themortalhalf]

Your Nickname: Saff
Character's Name: Shinjiro Aragaki [OU] (Persona 3 Portable) — themortalhalf
Exchanging With: Yarne [OU] (Fire Emblem: Awakening) — bunnyboy

— Spoilers for Persona 3 up to October 4th all up in here. —

Normal Memories

1. There are memories that are always meant to flow together. They're flashes of moments, like frames of film, most only seconds long, but irrevocably tied together like string without a knot. The memories are of he and Akihiko playing at the orphanage or at the Naganaki shrine at various ages. In mornings. Evenings. Snow. Rain. Sun. All of them are good and differ from one another very little. They're happy and carefree. It's like nothing could possibly go wrong, and they have all the days in their infinite immortal lifetimes to be this way. Sometimes Miki, Aki's younger sister, joins the memories too, like a quiet ghost. She's a shy girl, and Shinjiro wants to look after her, like a brother should even if he's not one, but in the end, she doesn't need much watching. Aki needs more looking-after than Miki ever does. He's a bit weird, and everyone knows it, though Shinji's never called Aki weird to his face, and he can't say he cares so long as Aki doesn't hurt himself. And someone has to make sure that doesn't happen so Shinjiro sticks by him and looks after him and indulges (and happily participates in) all his little games (most of the time), and if Aki hasn't torn his shirt off by the time he's catapulted down the damn slide like some kind of oiled fish with lightening for blood, Shinjiro knows he's not being competitive enough for his idiotic standards.

2. Miki doesn't have any friends, so one day, Shinjiro steals one for her. It's a toy, a doll, that he takes effortlessly from a nearby toy store. He feels a little guilty about it because he's stealing, and he's more than old enough to know that it's wrong. But there are other things that are pretty wrong with how the world works: it's wrong that Miki should have to go without just because she doesn't have parents anymore and the orphanage is poor. So, in his mind, he's just fixing an injustice because he knows it will make Miki happy. However, before he can even give the doll to her, Aki's found out about it. And Aki's idea of what's right and wrong are different from his, because as soon as he realizes what Shinjiro's done, he beats him up for it. Beats the crap out of him even though they're only young kids—seven. Shinjiro thinks about fighting back, almost, except Aki's crying, tears rolling down his face like he intends to drown Shinjiro in them. That hurts more than the punches do, so he lays back and takes it. They return the doll together. Shinjiro never steals again.

3. There's a certain solemnness to this memory. Shinjiro's eight years old. He and Aki are dressed in black, in clothes that are old and don't fit either of them well, and both are leaning against the wall of the building that's not the orphanage—because the orphanage doesn't exist any more. Aki's been crying, but the tears are gone, and he says that he wishes that he were stronger, because if he were stronger, things like this wouldn't happen. There's a pause, and Shinjiro suddenly realizes he can't be who he is now anymore. Shinjiro needs to be stronger, too, and he thinks he knows what he has to do and who he needs to be. So they promise to become stronger together, no matter how long it takes or what sacrifices it requires.

4. The Chairman told Shinjiro that he didn't have much potential. Shinjiro can't say he gives a damn what the Chairman says (he can't even make a decent pun, let alone seem competent, don't matter what his IQ is when you like to act like an idiot), and has taken to making a very quiet, stubborn nuisance of himself within the almost-empty dorm building that the Kirijo family owns and Aki now lives in. Shinjiro's been in the Dark Hour just like they have, and he can't leave Aki to it alone. Finally, after what seems like weeks of waiting, Mitsuru comes down the stairs and hands him something that resembles a gun: an Evoker. Aki acts like he's just gotten the best news of his life. Shinjiro just wants to buy a very short leash.

5. Shinjiro is 17, and drawn to the sound of rough-talking going on at the back alley he frequents now, though says little because he'd rather keep to himself. What he finds when he ventures over doesn't surprise him, especially once the encounter is done with and he's given time to mull the whole stupid thing over. It's like some sort of joke, really. The "what happens when three idiots walk into a bar" type of deal. Except this is Tatsumi Port Island's back alley and he's not laughing. They shouldn't be here. But he'll take care of it.

6. It takes time, needling and resolve, but soon the planning is done, the ingredients are set, and he'll only have Fuuka to watch and manage like a hawk, though she's improving when she bothers to focus and pay attention. He can handle that with his own rough sort of patience. The rest will come easy. Even so, it's easier to feed people than be around them, because they say unnecessary things (like, "thank you, this is delicious) that they should keep to themselves. By the end of it, the evening wasn't nearly as bad (it wasn't at all) as he'd like to pretend. He's forgotten how simple it is to make people happy.

7. He just wants to hear Minako talk. It doesn't matter about what, really. He's not much of a conversation piece, so it doesn't really matter. It helps him get his mind off things, except now it's working less and less, but at least it looks like she's enjoying her life like she should be. That's important to him, somehow. He wishes he could find a way to not ruin it, but he can't think of one. Nothing stays normal for very long. He can't make her forget him, and he doesn't expect her to forgive him for what's probably going to happen. But he's not going to fight what's fair. He just hopes she'll keep smiling, because he'd like her to. Just like he wants all the others to forget him and move on, so maybe he can stop worrying about them. He doesn't want to leave anything behind, doubts or regrets, but he's not doing a very good job.

Important Memories

1. The air is filled with smoke and fire and flakes of falling embers. The orphanage is a roaring inferno of flame: it's devouring their home from the inside out. Aki's yelling and crying and fighting with every last ounce of energy he has, a mess of struggling limbs and wide grey eyes. One of the orphanage workers is holding Aki back, keeping him from running back inside. Aki has already yelled himself hoarse, but Shinjiro has fallen completely silent. Watching. He feels numb. He already knows there's nothing he can do. Miki's in there, but Shinjiro's old enough to know that she's probably dead. He hopes she is, because he doesn't want to imagine her alive in there, scared and alone. He hopes that she's gone and that the fire never had a chance to touch her.

2. The night starts off as any other, edging into the hidden Dark Hour like clockwork even though the watch hands have stopped counting the seconds. The three of them have chased down an irregular Shadow, tracking it to a house in Port Island's back alley, in the cheap housing there.

That's the only normal part of the night. After that, everything goes wrong.

The woman inside the house is awake but something's off, because the Shadow's there but something still isn't right because the woman's not acting half how she should. There's something said about a kid, and Shinji thinks he can't let the Shadow move further inside, because he can't let it harm a little kid. And then, suddenly, something inside him snaps, and his head feels like it's splitting open. He hears someone yelling, but doesn't realize the yelling is coming from him as he tries to hold the pressure in his head back, but he can't. He can't hold it back, because it hurts too much. He sees the little kid then and Castor just tears out of him and there's not a damn thing he can do. Nothing Aki can do and nothing that Mitsuru can do. All he can do is hear Castor's screams and watch the Persona continue on his wild, berserk rampage through the room in a whirlwind of uncontrolled power. Things break and the house is torn apart. Castor stops only when the Shadow is dead, until there's not even wisps of dark to remember its presence by, then he disappears as abruptly as a nightmare.

But the Shadow isn't the only thing that's dead. The woman is dead too. He can tell because he just knows and her body's broken, arms thrown over the little kid in a final effort to protect him, because even if she wasn't all there, she was still a mother in the end. And now she's dead and it's all his fault and nothing can possibly make any of this better. He wishes he were dead. Or that he'd wake up. But nightmares don't get as bad as this.

3. Ken says, "Do you know why I asked you to meet me here?"

Shinjiro does. Of course he does. He hasn't been able to forget. He came to this place to die; he hasn't come here to live.

And by the end, when he's lying in a pool of his own blood and struggling to breathe under the night's dark green sky (still darkening), he finds that everything is (finally) as it should be.

(He told her, though, not to cry.)

4. When she says "I love you," it's not that he doesn't believe her, or that he doesn't feel the same. It's that she shouldn't, and neither should he.

Character Quirks:

His speech is blunt, abrasive, and direct to try to distance himself from other people, and make sure they stay distant from him, even with friends, even though he worries after their well-being. Uses "tch" in conversations, and expletives are common.

Holds in his emotions in favor of a rougher presentation. Pretends he doesn't care.

Fond of animals (especially dogs).

Enjoys cooking and watches cooking shows and reads cooking magazines. Really hated carrots as a child.

Has a mountain full of guilt and self-worth issues. Prefers not to "lie." Would rather just not answer or evade a question.

Cautious and stubborn. Tends to scold and call out people who do things that could potentially harm their well-being. Nags people he cares for about eating healthy.

Gets easily embarrassed and flustered over things like being thanked or appreciated, and hates being in the limelight.

Mundane Skills: Cooking. Very street-savvy.
Unique Skills: Is able to use axes (or any blunt-force weapon like hammers) proficiently. Advanced Persona knowledge and use (including Evokers).

ADDITIONAL MEMORY

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When Shinjiro next wakes up, he will have a new memory:

You remember being in a large room in City Hall, filled with party amenities and the first wave of newly arrived Visitors. You helped usher a few in and directed some where to go, but for the most part you were just watching.